The energy decline of the United States has been one of the most prominent features of Joe Biden’s tenure in the White House. New reporting raises the question: Is all of this deliberately orchestrated in coordination with America’s enemies?
According to previously undisclosed meetings revealed in internal Energy Department calendars obtained by Americans for Public Trust (APT) and shared with Fox News, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm met with her Chinese counterpart, China National Energy Administration Chairman Zhang Jianhua, right before the administration’s 2021 announcement that it would release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to fight nationwide high gas prices caused by Biden’s own energy policies.
While the content of these meetings is not known, the news suggests that the White House may have discussed its plans with Beijing and was thus influenced by the communist regime in making policy decisions that have weakened America’s energy independence while simultaneously strengthening China’s global position.
Per the calendars, Granholm spoke with Jianhua, who is a longtime member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), on Nov. 19, 2021. They had another conversation on Nov. 21.
Only two days later, on Nov. 23, the Biden administration made its announcement that it would be releasing 50 million barrels of SPR oil — which at the time constituted the largest such release in the country’s history.
APT Executive Director Caitlin Sutherland told Fox News that the timing of the meeting raises questions about CCP influence on the federal government.
“Secretary Granholm’s multiple closed-door meetings with a CCP-connected energy official raise serious questions about the level of Chinese influence on the Biden administration’s energy agenda,” Sutherland said.
She added, “Instead of focusing on creating real energy independence for America, Granholm has been too busy parroting Chinese energy propaganda and insisting ‘we can all learn from what China is doing.’ The public deserves to know the extent to which Chinese officials are attempting to infiltrate U.S. energy policy and security.”
The Energy Department provided Fox News with a statement asserting that the purpose of Granholm’s meetings with Jianhua was to coordinate efforts for addressing climate change. However, the agency did not specify what was said during the talks.
“Solving the climate crisis means engaging with competitors and allies in clear and substantive discussions — especially among the nations emitting the most carbon pollution into the atmosphere,” the DOE spokesperson said. “We must all address the transnational challenge of climate change to our planet.”
As oil prices soared in 2021, the Biden administration said in November of that year that it was releasing oil from SPR, but assured the public that it would not be the only nation tapping into its reserves. Rather, America would do so in conjunction with “other major energy consuming nations including China.”
But the promises did not live up to reality. As Republicans on Capitol Hill have pointed out, rather than releasing its reserve oil, China has grown its reserves in the years since the White House’s 2021 announcement. Republicans argue that the U.S. has weakened itself with the releases while gifting China “geopolitical leverage.”
Among the critics of the administration is House Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.). Last year, she and former GOP Rep. Fred Upton wrote a letter to Granholm in which they excoriated the executive branch for its energy policies.
“China ramped up its purchases of crude oil from Russia and the United States to boost its own reserves, even as oil prices surged and President Biden called for a coordinated release,” their letter read. “As a result, China may now control the world’s largest stockpile of oil, with total crude inventories estimated at 950 million barrels.”
Fox News further reports:
Overall, Biden has ordered the Department of Energy to release a total of about 260 million barrels of oil stored in the SPR since taking office to combat record fuel prices hitting American consumers. In late March 2022, the president announced a draw-down of a million barrels per day from the SPR after Russia invaded Ukraine, roiling global energy markets.
The SPR’s level has fallen to about 346.8 million barrels of oil, the lowest level since August 1983, according to Energy Information Administration data released on July 28. The current level is also 43% lower than its level recorded days prior to the November 2021 release.
Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), the ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, took aim at the White House for making America more “vulnerable” to foreign powers.
“China is profiting from President Biden’s political abuse of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve,” Barrasso said. “Meanwhile, America has become more vulnerable to true energy and national security emergencies.”
Of course, the gas price crisis for which Biden tapped into SPR was one of his own making, as he gutted American energy as soon as he entered office, including by killing the Keystone XL pipeline.
Biden also revoked an executive order from President Trump that was aimed at keeping foreign countries and firms away from America’s bulk power systems, especially entities tied to the Chinese Communist Party.
